COMPLETED Remembrance of Self | Fantasy | LGBTQ

Chapter 2 - Part 4

[Tasgal looked at the goons on the ground, one of them was unconscious and the other held his throat sobbing quite loudly. He then turned his head back as if listening to something. Haiden too could hear footsteps.

"Who goes there!" A voice called.]

Footsteps echoed throughout the alleyway, quickly nearing in.

"Fuck! The guards must've heard that prick. Ready for a run?" Tasgal asked.

"What? No, can't we just –" Tasgal grabbed Haiden's hand and snatched the trunk from him under his other arm pulling Haiden after him
His legs were already sore, he could barely drag them after himself.

Tasgal pulled him through winding alleyways filled with garbage and a few homeless people. Haiden didn't had much time to think, or feel any pity for the unfortunate souls that laid on the cold dirty cobblestone ways. The smell of feces and sweat was stinging his nostrils. He ran past the walls of the wooden buildings that formed the very alleyways he was treading, tall and looming they formed a labyrinth with sharp edges and dead ends. In between the alleyways the walls lacked the white paint that plastered every building, instead the raw material laid bare.

A crack of light spilled a few hundred paces ahead. Once they stepped in the open air, he took a deep breath but Tasgal didn't stop there, he pulled him farther reaching a crowded open plaza where shouts and screams filled the air, hoping they would blend.

Both Haiden and Tasgal were trying to catch their breath, panting hard. The rowdy crowd was throwing venomous slurs at something. Haiden quickly noticed that some people had sticks, some had rocks, among which a few daggers shone in the dim winter light.

"Deviant whore!" an old woman cried.

"Yeva'ah, how dare you disgrace the Creators with your unclean compulsions! Grab her!" a man ordered. His robes flowed black and stern posture demanded command. The woman screamed and squirmed under the hands of the crowd.

"Wha-What are they doing?" With their hand still clasped Haiden squeezed Tasgal's hand as if to reassure himself. The shocking scene unfolding before them resembled a pack of creatures waiting to devour its prey.

"Shit," Tasgal whispered. "Haiden, don't look! Come on." he yanked his hand to continue their escape but Haiden didn't budge. Instead he let go of Tasgal and moved forward towards the crowd. Part of him curious and part horrified; he couldn't act on what he as seeing but watch and take everything in.

"Abomination!" another man grunted just before a loud thwack resounded throughout the plaza immediately followed by a heartbreaking scream of woman. Shrill and piercing, it was pure fear. The hair on Haiden's neck prickled, filling him with a familiar sensation of danger. Soon after, sticks swung in the air and rocks flew. The woman's voice quieted down to a pathetic whimper. Haiden didn't know if it was because of the loud slurs and curses or because the poor woman had given up and accepted her fate.

As Haiden approached the crowd he saw their victim in the center of a whirlwind of violence and hate. Naked, bruised and cut. They kept pounding.

As if she knew someone was watching, her painful gaze fell on Haiden. She needed his help. With clenched fists he called his power forward but the static never came, it fizzled into nothing.

No no no no no, not now, please!

Her thin hands, probably once pale and flawless now black and blue, tried to cover her head but to no avail. She was surrounded by people, they were monsters. Haiden felt bile rising up his throat. He prepared himself for a second strike at the crowd, to stop the battering on the defenseless woman and yet again nothing happened. Frustrated he opened his mouth to try...something...not even he knew what, but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him. Looking up he saw Tasgal's face. He too looked nauseous, his eyes never leaving the sight he whispered.